Got Snow? Breaking Trail to Hancock Bog: 3/1/23

With abundant recent snowfall and temps predicted to hit the high 30s in the valleys, I was looking for a short and easy bushwhack at an elevation where the snow might stay powdery. I opted to visit a familiar bog at the foot of Mount Hancock, with a fine view of that sprawling ridge. Due to unbroken snow on the approach trails, the hike was not quite as easy as expected. But the snow did remain powdery all day, with no clumping on my snowshoes.

I was surprised to see no vehicles at the Hancock trailhead, which meant I would be breaking trail from the start. From the overlook the Osceola slides were looking pristine, but with avalanche danger rated considerable on the east side of Mt. Washington, it was not a good time for going onto a slide.

Yup, this will be a workout. Apparently no one had been out towards the Hancocks in the previous three days, during which there had been two snowfalls. There was ~10" of snow to break on the Hancock Notch Trail.

Pretty good snowpack beside the trail, in what had been - until recently - a fairly low snow winter.

Slow and steady wins the day.

Critter tracks.

Long corridor on an old J.E. Henry logging railroad grade.

The North Fork of Hancock Branch was buried.

A trench-like section.

A familiar junction.

Making tracks on Cedar Brook Trail.

 

Beautiful open spruce forest on the plateau at the foot of Mount Hancock.

Just as I headed off-trail, a solo snowshoer came up behind me, intending to do the loop over the summits. I wished him good luck!

The effort of trail-breaking ramped up as I headed for the bog.

The pole on the left shows the off-trail depth of recent snow atop the hard crust base - about 20." The pole on the right shows the full depth of perhaps three feet.

I gingerly fashioned a route across the North Fork.

 

 

 

 Open woods whacking.

Entering the bog, which I had visited several times previously in winter. The only suitable time to venture here is when there is a deep snowpack with a firm base. It's a wild and desolate place.

A big snowfield peppered with dead snags.

At the SW corner these is a marvelous view of the Hancock Range: North Hancock, South Hancock and the southern spur known as Juno Peak.

From here you can see that the two main summits enclose a high amphitheater.

North Hancock, displaying its Arrow Slide and a smaller, lower slide to the west.

South Hancock is a shapely peak from this perspective.

The wide gap of Hancock Notch as seen from the NW corner of the bog.

Mt. Huntington forms the south side of the notch.

Huntington's talus slopes are prominent in winter.

When I returned to the trail after a bit more than two hours, I saw that the solo hiker's snowshoe tracks were already headed out. This made for easier going back to the trailhead, though the snow was still very soft. I don't know if the hiker succeeded in completing the loop - if he did, I tip my hat as that would have been 5.6 miles in 2+ hours with some very difficult trail-breaking on the peaks.

I paused for a break at this outlook over the North Fork to a spur of Mt. Hitchcock.

The bog can be seen at lower right in this view taken from North Hancock earlier this winter.